WHICH KING DO WE SERVE?
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Christ the King, Year C
Analysis by Eli Seitz
9As I watched,
thrones were set in place,
and an Ancient One took his throne;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames,
and its wheels were burning fire.
10A stream of fire issued
and flowed out from his presence.
A thousand thousand served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.
The court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened….
13As I watched in the night visions,
I saw one like a human being
coming with the clouds of heaven.
And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.
14To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,
and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed.
“For all the treasonous ones who put him to death, and even from the crucified throne on which this One rules, he forgives and loves us all.”
DIAGNOSIS: Only a Vision
Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Morning After the Night Visions
In the night visions, Daniel speaks of one “like a human being” bringing about an “everlasting dominion that shall not pass away” (vs. 13-14). There are those who may seek to comfort us with what seem like similar platitudes that may ring shallow in our hearts: “Don’t worry, Jesus is king. It will be fine, it will work out.” Sure. After I’m dead. For when we are impacted by the political kingships of this world that are at work here and now, what does it matter that Jesus is Lord of all – especially when that lordship of Jesus is perverted as a tool for such kings of human likeness? In the book of Samuel, the people pleaded for God to give them an earthly king to rule over them – and then eagerly gave honor and glory to these very fallible people who took on that kingly responsibility. We, too, so much want our own earthly king, a human leader to look up to. And we think that surely this next one will save us, that we’ve gotten it right this time. Jesus might have a place on that heavenly throne, but until I get there, some other will do; and if that one doesn’t work out, it must be the next one. For some reason, our fallible human systems of government and human rulers keep failing us. But it can’t be a problem with the whole system. We just haven’t found the right one yet. One of these days, we will, and then everything will be better. So we think.
Step 2: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem: Vision vs. Reality
Daniel’s vision very clearly ascribes power and glory to God, and also to the One (the Christ!) who now sits upon the throne in an everlasting dominion. Why do we keep trying to take that away in order to give it to one earthly leader after another? Why do we hang our whole hearts on people and policies and elections that will not always go the way we want? A vision of this heavenly throne seems distant to us and our real lives, and our hearts yearn for a ruler who is present and real, with earthly power and even power to trample our enemies and put things right. We fail to trust in the kingship of the God who created this earth and everything in it. In our failure to trust in Jesus as king, we seek out kings from other places and put our trust there, even when they fail us over and over. We console ourselves with an uncritical sense that these things aren’t all that bad; we can trust the democratic process to be fair; we can trust leaders to be kind and good and truthful; we can trust that all people really do want to do the right thing. But none of those things are ever the place God instructs us to place our eternal hope. How far our hearts are from God!
Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem): Traitors to God
But hidden in Daniel’s words about the dominion that does not pass away is the ultimate dooming reminder that surely, everything else will pass away, even ourselves. And then there is nothing left to which we can turn or in which we can put all of our hope or try again with someone else. And the most bitter disappointment of all in our transgression is the termination of our own self-centered selves to which we so often let rule. I thought that as my own king, I would know right from wrong, I would make good choices, I would keep out everything evil. But I knew when I woke up this morning and looked at people with whom I did not agree who were celebrating, the evil is already here, in me. It turns out that I am a terrible king, a hateful and vengeful king ready to send my royal army to war at the first grievance. But I cannot trust myself to be a fit king any more than all those other failed kings I appointed before me. But what option is left? To turn back to God – whom I have already abandoned and who now abandons me? The other problem hidden in Daniel’s vision is that you can’t ever have more than one king. I’ve been declaring king after king and ignoring the mandates of the real One. And if God, the only true King on the throne is about to open the books in the judgment court (v. 10), well, I know what kings do to those who do not obey – even from what I know what I would do, if I were king. Eternal judgment is the only thing left for a bunch of treasonous ones like us.
PROGNOSIS: A Different Kind of King
Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution): From Cross to Throne
Yet these visions of glory do not come without the most gracious part of the story we so often overlook, even forget – that this One whom Daniel tells us about is “one like a human being” (v. 13). This one is a human being, and not a very royal one either. He didn’t have many kingly qualities. And he didn’t do a lot with the ones he had. He was born out of wedlock to a peasant girl and born in a stable with animals. The only ones who worshipped this “one like a human being” the night of his birth were some lowly shepherds. Sure, he healed some people, even as he brought along his few misfit followers. But he wasn’t by all appearances all that important. Far from being an earthly king of great power, he was sentenced to death by those earthly kings who exercised that power against him. And even if, as this same powerful one who will come on the clouds, he has the power to destroy his enemies, to take revenge, to kill those who killed him, to overthrow corrupt systems – he doesn’t. Instead, for all the treasonous ones who put him to death, and even from the crucified throne on which this One rules, he forgives and loves us all. In fact, this One makes us heirs of the same glory and honor we keep trying to steal. Not very many people make it to a throne of glory by dying. Not very many people make it to a throne of glory by loving their enemies. But the One whom God, the Ancient One, installs upon the throne does, and conquers death through resurrection. The crucified and risen Jesus is given dominion over the whole earth forever, and forever through forgiveness changes the outcome of every story that ends in death – including ours.
Step 5: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution): Trusting the One Lord of all, for all
In Daniel’s vision, the people eagerly volunteering for service in the new kingdom are of “all peoples, nations, and languages” (v. 14). Jesus pardons all traitors equally. He restores us to a place around his throne, at work for the good of his kingdom, not ours or anyone else’s. There is simply no more need to search after earthly king-after-king when we now get to trust the One who makes all things new and has gathered us to himself. By faith, our search is ended. There is only One we call Lord, whose rule is for the good of all the created world – even the same One who was there at its creation and now sits upon the throne risen with the death marks of his cross.
Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Citizens of Christ’s Kingdom
There will always be earthly rulers who clamor for our attention and for our trust. There will always be earthly rulers with whom we vehemently disagree, and there will always be some whose success we cheer. There will also always be people who suffer the real and painful consequences of earthly rulers who promote themselves and bring about injustice. But that does not mean that Daniel’s vision was only a dream. As earthly kings come and go, his dominion will truly never pass away and his kingship will truly never be destroyed (v. 14). And as servants of this kingdom, gathered around this throne, we get to work in this new grace. As we are restored to our places in Jesus’ kingdom, we are automatically also reunited with one another, even if we once were supporting opposite earthly kings. Working together in love for the good of all is the primary responsibility of being the new citizens of Christ’s kingdom. United as God’s people, we cannot help but bear one another’s burdens, share what we have, and offer the love and forgiveness that Jesus first offered us. We are residents of a different kind of kingdom, a kingdom that is more real than the penultimate ones that often seem more real. We trust Christ and Christ’s rule, bursting forth into reality in our hearts and in our love for all, as we strive to live be the “little Christs” for others. Martin Luther said, “God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does.” Assured of our citizenship with the crucified-and-risen One through baptism, our hope will not and cannot pass away, even as we shine that hope is loving service to our Lord and King.
